Recently, former Steel Panther bassist Travis Haley, who was officially known as Lexxi Foxx, showed up on Border City Rock Talk. During his appearance there, he looked back on leaving Steel Panther, as well as working with his current band Hollywood Gods N’ Monsters. Travis said (transcript via Blabbermouth):
“If it wasn’t for these guys [in Hollywood Gods N’ Monsters], I probably would have still been on break. Unfortunately, there was a lot of things that were on my plate that I didn’t see happening when we initially got this thing going; there was a lot of hiccups.”
He continued:
“But for the most part, right now I can say those hiccups are… I’m thankful for them. I have a little baby girl now, and I relocated, and I moved just outside Chicago, kind of just to get out of that whole area and kind of just start anew with the family.”
“And obviously I had to put a pause on music. And not being in the band that I was previously in, Steel Panther, I don’t know what I would have done. I’m glad that I got out when I got out, and then things happened the way they [did], because being on tour right now…”
“It’s tough enough to catch up with these guys on gigs, but I can’t imagine being on tour… I’m just thankful enough that I’m able to get this time with my family and obviously to take care of myself, stay healthy and raise a beautiful family, a beautiful baby girl.”
“So that’s where I’m at right now. And it does suck that I can’t be there for a lot of the gigs, but in the meantime, I’m thankful to have my extended family that’s given me this time off. I’m thankful for their understanding.”
Currently, Travis Haley, who’s also known as Steel Panther’s Lexxi Foxx, is a member of Hollywood Gods N’ Monsters. The band was officially former in September 2021, along with Diggity Dave, known for his work on MTV’s “Pimp my Ride.”
Steel Panther singer Michael Starr recently discussed Lexxi’s decision to leave the band.
“I just talked to him today, he’s doing good, man. He did exactly what he wanted to do. He started a family. He’s living in Chicago. Him and his wife just had a baby. So Lexxi Foxx is not gay. I thought he was gay this whole time. It’s so weird.”
“The party never stops. Just because he’s not on tour doesn’t mean he’s fucking having a good time. And we miss him. I fucking miss him. And we still stay in touch and talk. We talk just about every other day — just stay in touch with one another.”
“I mean, we were together for 27 years, 26 years, and we know each other’s moms and dads and all of our cousins. We know everything about one another. So it’s been really, really sad not having him in the band, but I understand why he’s doing what he’s doing.”
“And he was one of the smart guys — he saved up all his money. Not me — I’m still living at my mom’s. Let’s go.”
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Steel Panther recently announced Spyder as their new bassist, saying of him:
“Spyder has filled in for Lexxi many times,h e’s a super-close friend of the band. We’ve known him for years. As a matter of fact, Satchel and I were in a VAN HALEN tribute band for a while, and Spyder was the bass player in that. We have a rich history with him… He did all of Europe with us and he did a great job.“
“First of all, I just wanna say this: Lexxi Foxxcannot be replaced, that’s just the way it is. It’s like trying to replace David Lee Roth, in my opinion. You can’t fucking replace Lexxi Foxx.”
“And also trying to find somebody that has the ability to make somebody laugh, do choreography moves from 40 years ago, jump around on stage and know what to wear. And not only that — most people think that STEEL PANTHER’s music is super easy to play, and it’s not. Satchel’s an incredible writer, and the stuff he writes [is] not easy to play.”
“So you’ve really gotta be able to play bass, you’ve gotta be able to sing, you’ve gotta be able to engage the audience, you’ve gotta be able to talk to ’em. There’s a lot that goes into it… Seriously, it’s really hard to find someone that has all those qualities and you can hang out with them. ‘Cause you think about it — the show is an hour and a half. The other 22 and a half hours we’re together either sleeping or hanging out, soundchecking or whatever. So it’s a lot of time to spend together offstage. So you’d better be cool with him.”
Photo: Alfred Nitsch (20170614-035-Nova Rock 2017-Steel Panther-Lexxi Foxx)
